88R4357 JTZ-D
 
  By: Schatzline H.B. No. 1370
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to requiring a single entrance to a public school campus;
  creating a criminal offense.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subchapter D, Chapter 37, Education Code, is
  amended by adding Section 37.1051 to read as follows:
         Sec. 37.1051.  SINGLE ENTRANCE REQUIRED; OFFENSE. (a) A
  school district or open-enrollment charter school shall adopt a
  policy that:
               (1)  limits public entry to each district or school
  campus to a single entrance; and
               (2)  requires each external door to a district or
  school campus, other than the entrance designated under Subdivision
  (1), to be closed and locked to entry.
         (b)  A school district or open-enrollment charter school
  shall post on each external door to a district or school campus,
  other than the entrance designated under Subsection (a)(1), a
  conspicuous sign that states that:
               (1)  the door is not a public entrance and may not be:
                     (A)  used to allow another person to enter; or
                     (B)  left open, unsecured, and unattended; and
               (2)  use of the door in a manner described by
  Subdivision (1) may constitute an offense under this section.
         (c)  A person commits an offense if the person knowingly
  opens an external door to a school district or open-enrollment
  charter school campus, other than the entrance designated under
  Subsection (a)(1), and:
               (1)  allows another person to enter the campus through
  that door; or
               (2)  leaves the door open, unsecured, and unattended.
         (d)  An offense under Subsection (c) is a state jail felony.
         (e)  It is a defense to prosecution under Subsection (c) that
  at the time of the offense the person was acting:
               (1)  in response to an emergency situation at the
  school district or open-enrollment charter school campus; and
               (2)  in the person's capacity as:
                     (A)  a school district or open-enrollment charter
  school peace officer, school resource officer, security personnel
  member, or school marshal;
                     (B)  a peace officer;
                     (C)  a first responder or volunteer emergency
  services personnel, as those terms are defined by Section 46.01,
  Penal Code;
                     (D)  an emergency medical services volunteer, as
  defined by Section 773.003, Health and Safety Code; or
                     (E)  the parent of or person standing in parental
  relation to a student inside the campus.
         SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.